The present invention relates to apparatus for disinfecting medical and dental instruments utilizing a cold disinfection solution.
It is well recognized in the medical and dental fields that diseases are communicated to patients, and between patients, by various harmful organisms, such as spores, viruses, bacteria and fungus, as well as other pathogenic microorganisms. The destruction of these pathogenic microorganisms has been by such means as dry heat and steam, and in more recent times there have been developed various chemicals for the disinfection and sterilization of instruments.
A recent advance in the disinfection of instruments by chemical action has been the acceptance of aqueous solutions of glutaraldehyde, which is sold under such trade names as "Sporicidin" and "Cidex 7". This cold disinfection solution is sold with a buffer, which is required to be mixed with it in order to activate the solution. The activated solution is poured into a tray, and the instruments are immersed in the solution for a period of from almost seven to ten hours, for sterilization, and ten minutes for disinfection. The preparation of the solution and the immersion of instruments in trays is time consuming, and is not acceptable in cases where instruments have moving parts, bearing, and the like, which might be harmed by immersion, and the entry of the solution into the interior of the instrument. Further, in this procedure, the instruments must be disassembled, and then reassembled after disinfection. These steps add to the costs.
The problem existing in dentistry of carrying infection from one patient to another by the hand pieces or dental tools, such as drills, is recognized, and there have been proposals to provide discardable shields or protectors on such hand pieces. Examples of such proposals are: U.S. Pat. Nos. Moolten 1,342,968, Fuller 1,539,253, Curry 1,742,061, Lininger 2,041,077 Bimrose 2,073,137. These disclosures provides for the covering or isolation of an infected hand piece, rather than the disinfection and sterilization of it.